In a gamble with monumental political stakes, Republicans set course for a climactic House vote on their health care overhaul after U.S. President Donald Trump claimed he was finished negotiating with Republican holdouts and determined to pursue the rest of his agenda, win or lose.
The president tweeted Friday that “After seven horrible years of ObamaCare (skyrocketing premiums & deductibles, bad healthcare), this is finally your chance for a great plan!”
After seven horrible years of ObamaCare (skyrocketing premiums & deductibles, bad healthcare), this is finally your chance for a great plan!
The vote had been scheduled for late Thursday but was postponed after administration officials failed to convince skeptical conservative Republicans to support the bill.
Barring any further delays, the vote is expected to take place later today.
The vote follows a nighttime Capitol meeting at which top White House officials told Republican lawmakers that Trump had decided the time for talk was over.
“We have been promising the American people that we will repeal and replace this broken law because it’s collapsing and it’s failing families. And tomorrow we’re proceeding,” House Speaker Paul Ryan tersely told reporters after scheduling what loomed as the most momentous vote to date for Trump and for the Wisconsin Republican’s own speakership.
In an embarrassing and stinging setback Thursday, leaders abruptly postponed the vote because a rebellion by conservatives and moderates would have doomed the measure.
U.S. President Donald Trump claimed he was finished negotiating with Republican holdouts on the bill, and is determined to pursue the rest of his agenda, win or lose. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)
They’d hoped for a roll call Thursday, which marked the seventh anniversary of President Barack Obama’s enactment of his landmark health care statute that Republicans have vowed ever since to annul.
There was no evidence that leaders had nailed down sufficient support to prevail, nor that their decision to charge ahead was a feint and that they’d delay again if necessary.
But they seemed to be calculating that at crunch time, enough dissidents would decide against sabotaging the bill, Trump’s young presidency and the House Republican leadership’s ability to set the agenda, with a single, crushing defeat.
Lack of women in photo of healthcare negotiations
A lack of women in a photo of negotiations over the bill that was tweeted out by Vice-President Mike Pence is drawing criticism from Democrats.
The photo shows Pence at the centre of a conference table during negotiations with the House Freedom Caucus. About two dozen men can be seen in the photo and not a single woman.
Washington U.S. Sen. Patty Murray drew attention to the absence of women in the room by retweeting the photo and sarcastically adding, “A rare look inside the GOP’s women’s health caucus.”
A repeal of a maternity care requirement is among the concessions the Freedom Caucus is demanding in exchange for support of the bill.
Appreciated joining @POTUS for meeting with the Freedom Caucus again today. This is it. #PassTheBill pic.twitter.com/XG6lQIy5a6
— @VP
Uphill climb even if Republicans get the votes
Even if they prevail, Republicans face an uphill climb in the Senate, where conservatives and moderates are also threatening to sink it.
The Republican bill eliminates the Obama statute’s unpopular fines on those who do not obtain coverage and the often generous subsidies for those who purchase insurance.
Instead, consumers would face a 30 per cent premium penalty if they let coverage lapse. Republican tax credits would be based on age, not income. The bill would also end Obama’s Medicaid expansion and trim future federal financing for the federal-state program and let states impose work requirements on some of its 70 million beneficiaries.
In a bid to coax support from conservatives, House leaders proposed a fresh amendment — to be voted on Friday — repealing Obama’s requirement that insurers cover 10 specified services like maternity and mental health care. Conservatives have demanded the removal of those and other conditions the law imposes on insurers, arguing they drive premiums skyward.
Many say the bill cuts too deeply
Many moderates are opposed because they say the bill would leave many voters uninsured. Medical associations, consumer groups and hospitals are opposed or voicing misgivings, and some Republican governors say the bill cuts Medicaid too deeply and would leave many low-income people uncovered.
Republicans can lose only 22 votes in the face of united Democratic opposition. A tally by The Associated Press found at least 32 “no” votes, but the figure was subject to fluctuation amid frantic Republican lobbying.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said changes Republican leaders had proposed before Thursday to win votes had cut the legislation’s deficit reduction by more than half, to $150 billion US over the next decade. But it would still result in 24 million more uninsured people in a decade.
Obama’s law increased coverage through subsidized private insurance for people who don’t have access to workplace plans, and a state option to expand Medicaid for low-income residents. More than 20 million people gained coverage since the law was passed in 2010.
Many who purchase individual health insurance and make too much to qualify for the law’s tax credits have seen their premiums jump and their choices diminished.